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I think I will replace everything.


Wilbur

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I generally buy higher quality tools. That frequently means that I buy just the tool I need rather than the whole set. Sometimes that makes things a little pricier over the long run other times it doesn't matter. With Snap-On, the cost of the set is the sum of the individual tools.

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28 minutes ago, sheep_herder said:

We have one forum member, BR46, that makes what he needs and doesn't have.:whistle:

My grandfather could not serve in WWII due to having his pelvis crushed in a train coupler as a young man.  So when war broke out, he sold the grocery store in Waco and moved the family to Corpus Christi and worked at the Naval Air Station.  Taught himself the math needed to be a machinist, sort of a throw back to his days working on steam locomotives in the 1920s and 30s

I have a ratchet wrench that he made with his own hands, maybe as part of his machinist training.  I know he made lots of his own tools.

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4 minutes ago, jsharr said:

My grandfather could not serve in WWII due to having his pelvis crushed in a train coupler as a young man.  So when war broke out, he sold the grocery store in Waco and moved the family to Corpus Christi and worked at the Naval Air Station.  Taught himself the math needed to be a machinist, sort of a throw back to his days working on steam locomotives in the 1920s and 30s

I have a ratchet wrench that he made with his own hands, maybe as part of his machinist training.  I know he made lots of his own tools.

That's a cool bit of history.   I have a lot of my grandfathers and fathers woodworking tools.  Many were made by them for specific tasks.  I have always loved metal and woodwork but space and time...  

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Decades ago I bought a roll-out tool box filled with Craftsmen tools when they were still worth a damn. Over the years I've bought some very good tools and some pretty crappy (Harbor Freight quality). If it's a job that I'm going to do often, I'll buy the good stuff. If it's an infrequent job, chinesium is often good enough.

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1 hour ago, Kzoo said:

I remember my dad use to make 'leather stuff'.  I guess I was to young to actually remember what he made but I remember his stitching awl and I remember waxed cord.

 

It is a relaxing hobby.  A fun material to work with as well.  Right now, I am making 7 wallets and 7 handbags for wedding party gifts for my daughter.  That and 2 passport wallets and a guestbook binding, then I will get back to restoring my great grandfathers club chair.  

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...almost all of my tools did not come in sets.  I find that having individual tools that were made by different makers and at different times gives me better visual cues when looking for one particular tool in the box or on the pegboard. I have a couple of cable clamp crimpers that were originally a set for AT+T/Bell Systems repairmen. They look identical, with the exception off the jaw sizing.  I finally had to use tape to color code one of the handles for one of them.

Whoever the Chinese genius was who came up with anodizing sockets in different colors has my undying gratitude.

 

 

 

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Two words...Harbor Freight

OK, their tools are cheap and crap throwaways. But their miscellaneous stuff are cheap. While I avoid most electronic tools with the exception of the tile cutter expected to be a one job throwaway (it lasted longer), other things like paint brushes/rollers are so cheap you don't have to worry about cleaning them (especially oil base), just buy more. Last item I purchased there were tie down straps.

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23 minutes ago, Tizeye said:

Two words...Harbor Freight

OK, their tools are cheap and crap throwaways. But their miscellaneous stuff are cheap. While I avoid most electronic tools with the exception of the tile cutter expected to be a one job throwaway (it lasted longer), other things like paint brushes/rollers are so cheap you don't have to worry about cleaning them (especially oil base), just buy more. Last item I purchased there were tie down straps.

Their tie down straps were actually pretty high quality. I bought the best ones they had in Walmart and they were crap. I broke the first one just tightening it down. I threw them away. I have several sets of impact sockets from harbor freight that I haven’t been able to break, even with a six foot cheater pipe.

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13 hours ago, Wilbur said:

Have you spent your life using crap tools for various projects?   My wife bought me a new stitching awl for Christmas and I just used it for the first time.  Finely made tools are a genuine pleasure to use.  I think they enhance the desire for perfection in crafts. 

I've spent my life collecting crap tools, furniture, etc.

My house is over-cluttered right now and I told my neighbor that if I came home to find my house robbed and stripped bare, I don't know if I'd be upset or happy.

I have a Kawaii Baby Grand Piano (the Cadillac of pianos compared to Steinway, the Rolls Royce), an excellent TV, and mementos, but otherwise I'm considering hiring someone to clean out most of the rest of the junk.

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